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Michael Farrell

Bio

Michael Farrell is primarily a freelance translator and transcreator. Over the years, he has acquired experience in the cultural tourism field and in transcreating advertising copy and press releases, chiefly for the promotion of technology products. Being a keen amateur cook, he also translates texts on Italian cuisine.

Besides this, he is an untenured lecturer in computer tools for translation at the IULM University (Milan, Italy), the developer of the terminology search tool IntelliWebSearch and a qualified member of the Italian Association of Translators and Interpreters (AITI).

A freelance translator needs a CV like a fish needs a bicycle

Presentation in:

Hordes of budding young translators arrive fresh on the market each year and inundate potential clients with their carefully written curricula vitae, often in that newfangled Europass format. Even some established professionals regularly do mail shots with their painstakingly designed CVs, perhaps after attending costly workshops on how to write a killer curriculum vitae. But is this the right way to land freelance projects?

The speaker will attempt to persuade attendees not only that a CV is totally the wrong tool for the job, but is actually harmful.

Freelancers are - in reality - one-person language service providers and, as such, they should sell themselves, sing their own praises and promote their businesses. They should therefore be using marketing materials to advertise their services.

Michael Farrell will look at the two main marketing tools freelance translators can use for the purpose (websites and brochures), discuss their similarities and differences and point out their pros and cons. He will then concentrate on brochures more in detail, present the results of a recent informal web survey he has done among freelance translators and explain why he believes they are not being exploited to their full potential.